Who Defines Peace in Gaza? Trump’s Deal, Hamas’s Defiance, and the People Caught Between

Two Sides. One Story. You Make the Third.

3 Narratives News | October 5, 2025

“We are ready for peace if peace respects our people.”

A Hamas spokesman said late Friday, his voice crackling over a faint satellite line from Doha. In the meantime, lives are waiting to begin again.

On September 29, 2025, President Donald Trump stood beside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and revealed what he called “the most comprehensive plan ever offered for Gaza.” The twenty-point proposal promised to bring hostages home, unlock reconstruction funds, and place Gaza under a technocratic administration supervised by an international “Board of Peace.”

Hamas’s political bureau, divided between Doha and underground offices in Gaza, replied three days later. It accepted some points, rejected others, and requested further talks on the rest. For the first time in years, both sides spoke of a process rather than a fight.

Yet beneath the sudden diplomacy lies a struggle over meaning. What does peace mean when neither side can afford to appear weak?

The Trump Vision: Order Before Freedom

Inside the White House, the twenty-point peace plan is described as a blueprint for lasting stability. The first stage halts all fighting, secures the return of every hostage within seventy-two hours, and opens Gaza’s borders for humanitarian aid monitored by U.S. and U.N. observers.

“This is not about politics, it’s about humanity.” — President Trump

Trump said the plan requires both sides to act simultaneously so that no one can stall or cheat. Israel pauses its campaign once hostages begin to move, and Hamas releases them before rebuilding begins. Later stages focus on reconstruction and governance: sealing tunnels, destroying heavy weapons, and installing a temporary technocratic council until elections can be held under international supervision. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair was named co-chair of the oversight board.

Trump presents the plan as an act of leadership for all nations seeking peace through strength. In his rallies he calls it “a reset for the region,” declaring that America leads because America delivers. Supporters describe it as liberation for Gazans trapped between Hamas and despair. They point to billions in reconstruction pledges and industrial corridors that could employ a generation. In Trump’s words, disarmament is the path to peace, and management by neutral experts the guarantee of fairness. “Peace through action, not talk,” he told supporters in Ohio.

The Hamas Resistance: Dignity Before Surrender

To Hamas, the proposal reads as an ultimatum wrapped in diplomacy. The group accepted measures that cost little — hostage release, humanitarian access, and transfer of daily governance to technocrats — but rejected calls for total disarmament and political erasure.

“Our weapons are not negotiable before independence. We will not lay down arms while Israeli jets still decide when our children sleep.” — Khalil al-Hayya

AP News

Bassem Naim, another senior figure, echoed the same line: “The group will not accept disarmament,” referring to one of Israel’s key demands in the negotiations. Jewish Insider

Inside Hamas, divisions widen. The political bureau abroad, including al-Hayya, views limited compromise as survival; the military wing in Gaza under Izz al-Din al-Haddad, new commander of the al-Qassam Brigades, considers any surrender of arms a death sentence. Wikipedia

They say Trump’s plan is not a peace offer, but obedience under occupation. The proposed Board of Peace, dominated by foreigners, recalls earlier colonial mandates. The timeline feels unequal — seventy-two hours for Hamas to act, no firm date for Israeli withdrawal. On Gaza’s streets, resistance remains identity. Families who watched homes fall fear any deal might legalize their displacement. Teachers whisper, “A ceasefire is not peace when the blockade stays.” In their eyes, dignity outweighs relief; reconstruction without sovereignty is survival, not freedom.

The People Between the Clauses

Beyond politics lies a ledger of exhaustion written in dust, hunger, and memory. In Khan Younis and Rafah, mothers and children queue for water as rumours of peace drift like distant weather reports they no longer trust.

Aid groups warn that each day of delay kills more than any rocket. Hospitals run on generators, convoys wait at closed crossings, and children sketch drones instead of kites. Arab News

Nancy Abu Matroud, twenty-two and six months pregnant, has already lost three children. Holding her surviving daughter Etra, she said, “We are just asking for a shelter. I don’t want to lose the daughter I still have.” Reuters

Nasma Ayad strokes her malnourished eight-year-old in Gaza City. “I feel I’m slowly losing my daughter, day after day,” she said. Reuters

At Nasser Hospital, newborns lie on bare floors as co